i. In Zoroastrianism The use of the term apocalyptic to define a particular type of prophetic utterance is a development…

AMURDĀD (Pahl. form of Av. Amərətāt, NPers. Mordād, Amordād), one of the seven great Aməša Spəntas of Zoroastrianism, the hypostasis of…

AHURA MAZDĀ (Old Persian Ahuramazda, Parth. Aramazd, Pahl. Ohrmazd/Hormizd, NPers. Ormazd), the Avestan name with title of a great divinity…

ĀDUR GUŠNASP, an Ātaš Bahrām (see Ātaš), that is, a Zoroastrian sacred fire of the highest grade, held to be…

ĀDUR (and ādar) Middle Persian word for “fire;” the Avestan form is ātar (of unknown derivation), and the late form…

ARDWAHIŠT (ORDĪBEHEŠT) YAŠT, the third in the series of Avestan hymns addressed to individual divinities. It is devoted to one…

ARMAITI (Spəntā Ārmaiti, Pahl. Spandārmad, Pers. Isfandārmad), one of the six great Aməša Spəntas who, with Ahura Mazdā and/or his Holy…

ĀTAŠ NIYĀYIŠN, the fifth in a group of five Zoroastrian prayers (niyāyišn), which is addressed to fire and its divinity…

ĀBRĪZAGĀN “the pouring of water,” name for a Zoroastrian feast; the term could be used for Tīragān (q.v.) and probably…

ACHAEMENID RELIGION. The sources are threefold: Greek writings, Achaemenid monuments and artifacts, and texts from Persia in Old Persian, Elamite,…

ĀDUR FARNBĀG, an Ātaš Bahrām (see Ātaš), that is, a Zoroastrian sacred fire of the highest grade, held to be…

ĀDUR BURZĒN-MIHR, an Ātaš Bahrām (see Ātaš), i.e., a Zoroastrian sacred fire of the highest grade. The tradition of its…

AHURA.ṰKAĒŠA, an infrequent Avestan adjective meaning “following the Ahuric doctrine.” Its oldest occurrence is probably in the Fravarānē, the Zoroastrian…

AIRYAMAN, an ancient Iranian divinity and a yazata of the Zoroastrian pantheon, known in Manichean Middle Persian as Aryaman, in…

AMA, a minor Zoroastrian divinity, the hypostasis of strength, who appears in the Avestan hymn to Vərəθraγna (Yt. 14). In…

AMƎŠA SPƎNTA, an Avestan term for beneficent divinity, meaning literally “Holy/Bounteous Immortal” (Pahl. Amešāspand, [A]mahraspand). Although the expression does not…

ANKLESARIA, BAHRAMGORE TAHMURAS (1873-1944), Parsi scholar, son of Tahmuras Dinshah Anklesaria, born and educated in Bombay. He was the first…

ANKLESARIA, PESHOTAN KAVASHAH (1928-69). Parsi priest and scholar born at Broach. A distant relative of Tahmuras Anklesaria, he was educated…

ANKLESARIA, TAHMURAS DINSHAH (1842-1903), Parsi priest and scholar. Born at the little town of Anklesar, center of the Godavra priestly…

ANTIA, EDULJI KERSASPJI (1842-1913/1212-83 yazdegerdi), Parsi scholar, born of priestly stock in Navsari in Gujarat, where he received his early…

APĄM NAPĀT (Son of the Waters), Zoroastrian divinity of mysterious character whose true identity, like that of his Vedic counterpart,…

ARDWAHIŠT (Av. Aša Vahišta, Mid. Pers. Ardwahišt, Ašawahišt; NPers. Ardībehešt, Ordībehešt), one of the six great Aməša Spəntas who, with…

ĀŠ i. Etymology. ii. In modern Iran. iii. Among Zoroastrians. i. Etymology The word āš does not seem to appear…

ARSACIDS iv. Arsacid religion Nothing is known of the religion of the Parni before they entered Parthia, but it seems…

ASTVAṰ.ƎRƎTA, the Avestan name of the Saošyant, the future Savior of Zoroastrianism. Zoroaster, according to the tradition of his community,…

ĀTAŠ (Book Pahlavi and New Persian) “fire,” Book Pahlavi also ātaxš, both from the Avestan nominative singular ātarš; the regular…

ĀTAŠ-ZŌHR, or ātaš-zōr (Persian zōr-e ātaš, a Middle Persian term for the Zoroastrian ritual offering to fire of fat from…

ĀTAŠDĀN (Zoroastrian Pahlavi) “place of fire, fire-holder,” designates the altar-like repository for a sacred wood-fire in a Zoroastrian place of…

AVESTAN PEOPLE. The term Avestan people is used here to include both Zoroaster’s own tribe, with that of his patron,…

ĀΘRAVAN- (Avestan) “priest” (strong stem āθravan-, weak stem aθaurun-), Mid. Pers. āsrōn. Its Vedic counterpart is átharvan- (for the phonetic…

ĀTAŠKADA (New Persian) “house of fire,” Mid. Pers. ātaxš-kadag, kadag ī ātaxš, a Zoroastrian term for a consecrated building in…

AYĀDGĀR Ī JĀMĀSPĪG “Memorial of Jāmāsp,” a short but important Zoroastrian work in Middle Persian, also known as the Jāmāspī…

AYĀDGĀR Ī ZARĒRĀN “Memorial of Zarēr,” a short Pahlavi text which is the only surviving specimen in that language of…

ĀZŪITI-, an Avestan word (cf. Skt. āhuti-) meaning “oblation of fat.” It occurs twice in the Gāθās, once together with…

BĀNŪ PARS, “Lady of Pārs,” the name of a Zoroastrian shrine in the mountains at the northern end of the…

ALBORZ ii. In Myth and Legend The most ancient layer of belief about the mythical “high Harā” appears to be…

BARAŠNOM, the chief Zoroastrian purification rite, consisting of a triple cleansing, with gōmēz (cow’s urine), dust, and water, followed by…

Anaïtis is the Greek rendering of what appears to have been the name of the goddess of the planet Venus,…

Ardwīsūr Anāhīd, Middle Persian name of Arədvī Sūrā Anāhitā, a popular Zoroastrian yazatā; she is celebrated in Yašt 5 (known as the Ābān Yašt)…

NOWRUZ i. In the Pre-Islamic Period Nowruz, “New Day”, is the holiest and most joyful festival of the Zoroastrian year….

FESTIVALS i. ZOROASTRIAN Zoroastrian festivals fall into two broad categories. There are the seven feasts of obligation, that is, No…

FARŌḴŠI, the name of a Zoroastrian ceremony for departed souls (Av. fravaši-, q.v.), also called Farošīn (Av. genitive plural fravašīnąm-),…

EṢṬAḴR (ESTAḴR, STAḴR), city and district in ancient Persia (Fārs). i. History and Archaeology. ii. As a Zoroastrian Religious Center….

Bibliography: J.-P. Digard, Techniques des nomades Baxtyâri, Cambridge and Paris, 1981. L. Dupree, Afghanistan, Princeton, N.J., 1978; repr. Princeton, N.J., 1980. i….

DIASPORA, Iranian. See also DEPORTATIONS. i. In Pre-Islamic times. ii. Persians in India. iii. Persians in Southeast Asia. iv. Persians…

DHABHAR, BAHMANJI NUSSERWANJI (b. 1869 in Navsari, d. 1952 in Bombay 1952), eminent Parsi scholar of Bhagaria stock. He received his…

DEATH among Zoroastrians. At death among Zoroastrians the body is swiftly disposed of (see CORPSE), but rites for the soul…

DARMESTETER, JAMES (b. Château-Salins, Alsace, 12 March 1849, d. Paris, 19 October 1894), the great Iranist, was the son of…

DAR-E MEHR, a Zoroastrian term first recorded in the Persian Rivāyats and Parsi Gujarati writings. Its use in the former…

DAMASCUS, Zoroastrians at. The earliest evi­dence for the presence of Zoroastrians at Damascus is provided by Berossus, who stated (Jacoby,…

DAHM YAZAD, the Middle Persian name of the Zoroastrian divinity (also known as Dahmān Āfrīn and Dahmān) who is the…

DADYSETH ĀTAŠ BAHRĀM, the oldest Ātaš Bahrām of Bombay, consecrated and installed according to Kadmi (see dadyseth) rites in the…

DADYSETH AGIARY. In 1771 c.e. Dadibhai Noshirwanji Dadyseth established an agiary (see ātaškada) with an Ādarān fire for the sake of the…

DADYSETH, Dadibhai Noshirwanji (1734-99), a distinguished Parsi philanthropist. His given name was Dadi, -bhai being a courtesy addition, Seth a…

CORPSE, disposal of, in Zoroastrianism. In Zoroastrianism the corpse (Av. nasu-, Pahl. nasā) of a righteous believer was held to…

CLEANSING i. In Zoroastrianism Cleansing is conceived as a cosmic and individual activity is an essential element in Zoroastrianism, which…

CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONS (MPers. ruwānagān lit. “relating to the soul”), pious endow­ments to benefit the souls of the dead, as specified…

CHĀNGĀ ĀSĀ, an eminent Parsi layman who lived in the 15th-16th centuries a.d. at Navsari in Gujarat. In a passage…

CATTLE. The word “cattle” has no precise equivalent in Iranian languages, in which bovines are commonly designated by the words…

BĪBĪ ŠAHRBĀNŪ, the dedication of a Moslem shrine on a hillside by Ray to the south of Tehran. The legend…

BHARUCHAS, the name of a group (panth) of Parsi Zoroastrian priests who had their headquarters at the ancient port of…

BHAGARIAS, the name of a group (panth) of Parsi Zoroastrian priests. Sometime after the Parsi settlement at Sanjan (q.v.) in…

ĀBĀN YAŠT, Middle Persian (Pazand) name of the fifth among the Zoroastrian hymns to individual divinities. It is the third…

ĀBĀN, Middle Persian term, “the waters” (Av. āpō). In Indo-Iranian the word for water is grammatically feminine; the element itself…

ĀBĀN MĀH, the eighth month of the Zoroastrian year, dedicated to the Waters, Ābān. From the 5th to the beginning…

ĀB-ZŌHR “offering of water,” the Middle Persian form of a Zoroastrian technical term, Av. Ape zaoθra. Currently, the Irani Zoroastrians…

ĀB-NĀHĪD “Nāhīd of the Water,” a Zoroastrian woman’s name, first attested in the poem Vis o Rāmīn (sec. 9, line….

Zoroastrians, it has been said, could as justly be termed worshippers of water as of fire; and in revering this…

IRĀNŠĀH, the term now used by the Parsis as the name of their oldest sacred fire, the Ātaš Bahrām (q.v.)…

HUŠT, a Zoroastrian-Persian term of unknown etymology, designating the area (in known practice a town-quarter, a village, or a group…

HUMATA HŪXTA HUVARŠTA, three Avestan words which encapsulate the ethical goals of Zoroastrianism. In form verbal adjectives, meaning “well thought,…

HŌŠANG (Hōshang) JĀMĀSP, a distinguished Parsi scholar-priest (b. 26 April 1833 in Navsari; d. 23 April 1908 in Pune). He…

HAOMA ii. THE RITUALS YASNA Haoma yields the essential ingredient for the parahaoma, Pahl. parahōm, the consecrated liquid prepared during…

HAOMA, the Avestan name for a plant and its divinity, MPers. hōm, Sogd. xwm, Pers. and other living Iranian languages…

HAMKALĀM, a Zoroastrian-Persian adjective meaning “of the same word.” It is a hybrid compound of Persian ham “together, of the…

HAMĀZŌR, a Zoroastrian-Persian adjective meaning “of the same strength” (< OP/Av. hama-, AirWb, col. 1773, and OP *zavar-, AirWb, cols...

HADIŠ, the Avestan name of a minor Zoroastrian divinity, glossed in Pahlavi (tr. of Visprad 1:9) by Mēnōg ī xānag…

GŌSĀN, a Parthian word of unknown derivation for “poet-musician, minstrel.” It was evidently much used, since it was borrowed into…

GŌMĒZ (cow’s urine), a Pahlavi term which renders Av. gaomaēza- and gə̄uš maēsman- (AirWb., cols. 483, 1108). Urine, with its…

GŌDARZ, name of various Iranian historical figures; an Iranian epic hero in wars against the “Turanians” in northeastern Iran; and…

GANZAK (Ganja, Gk. Gazaca, Lat. Gaza, Ganzaga, Ar. Janza, Jaznaq), a town of Achaemenid foundation in Azarbaijan. The name means…

GĀHĀNBĀR, Middle Persian name for the feasts held at the end of each of the six seasons of the Zoroastrian…

GĀH, a Middle Persian, Parthian, and New Persian word meaning either “place” or “time.” i. Place. ii. Time.   i….

FRAWARDĪN YAŠT (New. Pers. Farvardīn Yašt), the thirteenth of the Zoroastrian yašts (see AVESTA), devoted to the fravašis. It is…

FRAVAŠI (OP *fravarti, Pahl. fraward, frawahr, frōhar, frawaš, frawaxš), the Avestan word for a powerful supernatural being whose concept at…